Mariton: Wild Bergamot Blooming
by Tim Burris, Preserve Manager. Photos by Carole Mebus.
![MEBUS TigerSwallowtailOnMonardaMariton0719](https://natlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/MEBUS-TigerSwallowtailOnMonardaMariton0719.jpg)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on wild bergamot.
The wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is blooming in Mariton’s fields right now and attracting lots of insects. This plant seems to have expanded in our fields, and has really spread out in Meadow #3. You get a sense of that from the photo above. It is pretty impressive.
![Monarch Butterfly](https://natlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/MEBUS-MonarchOnMonardaMariton0719.jpg)
Monarch Butterfly
![Hummingbird Moth](https://natlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/MEBUS-HummingbirdMothOnMonardaMariton0719.jpg)
Hummingbird Moth
The hummingbird moth is a beautiful creature. It is a daytime moth that is smaller than a hummingbird, but really does resemble one the way it moves from flower to flower. Notice in this photo how the flower head is actually made up of several small flowers.
Some butterfly weed is still blooming in the meadows.
![Pearl Crescent on Butterflyweed](https://natlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/MEBUS-PearlCrescentOnButterflyWeedMariton0719-2.jpg)
Pearl Crescent on butterfly weed